Well, not really. But he's done the baseball equivalent of those dreams.

As a Yankees rookie in 2009, Coke played catch every day with Mariano Rivera.

"Why not play catch with the best guy on the field when it comes to your job description?" Coke said. "He's a reliever and you're a reliever. He's been doing it for a while. Why not try to get as much as you can out of it?"

Rivera hasn't blown a save against the Tigers since 1999. He has been only slightly less effective against everyone else. He is inarguably the greatest reliever of all time.

(Inarguably, but not infallibly -- Rivera three times has blown a save in a game that would have clinched a postseason series, including Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. The Yankees lost all three series. There's something to keep in mind anytime a reliever is held to a standard of perfection.)

"What he's done and how he's gone about it speaks for itself," Coke said of Rivera. "He has been the standard that everybody tries to achieve. That is the goal you strive for, to be that good. No matter what role I'm in -- whether I'm mopping up, if I'm setting up the setup, or setting up or closing -- that's the standard I want to be known for.

"There is no standard to compare him to. He is the standard."

Coke learned an attitude from Rivera.

"Have that confidence in yourself to do your job to the best of your ability on a consistent basis," Coke said. "Don't act like you're the top dog. Have the inward confidence, not the outward confidence."

Saving the series

The detective writer Ross Macdonald culminated one of his novels with this line: "The case ended where it began."

For the Tigers, their case for this year's American League pennant could begin where last year's ended: With Phil Coke getting the final out of the season's first win or two.

Coke got the final out in the final three games of the Yankees sweep in the AL championship series. He did so against the team that included him in the blockbuster three-team trade with the Tigers and Diamondbacks a few months after the Yankees won the 2009 World Series. Here's a quick look back:

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• Game 2, ALCS, Yankee Stadium: Coke inherited a 3-0 lead for the eighth and blanked the Yankees for the final two innings. Coke became the first reliever in three years to have a scoreless save of at least two innings in the postseason. The last reliever to have done that was Rivera. (A few days after Coke's performance, the Cardinals Jason Motte turned in a scoreless two-inning save in the NL playoffs.)

• Game 3, ALCS, Comerica Park: Coke relieved Justin Verlander with one out in the ninth, the Tigers ahead 2-1, and no one on base. The Yankees put runners at first and second with two out. Coke fanned Raul Ibañez on a breaking ball to end the game.

• Game 4, ALCS, Comerica Park: It wasn't a save situation, just a historic situation. Coke took over for the eighth with the Tigers ahead, 7-1. He retired all six hitters he faced, and the Tigers had the pennant.

Lefty matchup

Coke became the October closer last year when Jose Valverde faltered. Now Valverde is gone and hasn't been replaced. Coke is a logical candidate to pitch the ninth if the Tigers have a save opportunity in the opening series in Minnesota.

The reason he's a logical candidate in that first series is that he's the Tigers' top left-handed reliever and two of the three Twins most dangerous hitters are left-handed: Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Right-handed Josh Willingham is due to bat cleanup between those two. If Coke can get out Mauer for the first or second out, he can work around Willingham and perhaps walk him before he faces Morneau.

Coke pitches amped up. He sprints from the bullpen to the mound. Could those ninth innings in the playoffs against the Yankees have been any more exciting than the relief work he was used to doing in the sixth, seventh and eighth?

"Whether it's the sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth, there's always an intensity that brings out a little bit more in me," Coke said. "In the playoffs, with the heightened attention via the media and the fans, and everyone going crazy, it makes it that much more fun. If you allow yourself to be that much more focused, you allow yourself to do a better job as well.

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"It was awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better situation."

The final out

Coke, 30, talked about what he senses about himself heading into his fifth big-league season.

"I can just say that I feel I'm more driven," he said. "I feel a little bit more focused on the task at hand, which is to get back to where we were at the end of the season last year and take the next step -- finish the process, not just get there (the World Series)."

Mariano Rivera has gotten the final out of four World Series.

Coke is now a candidate to pitch the ninth inning on a team that could win the World Series.

Perhaps by late October he'll have something historic in common with Rivera:

The thrill of getting that last and ultimate out.

Contact John Lowe: 313-223-4053 or jlowe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @freeptigers.

Join us for live blogs of each of the Tigers' first four games of the season, including the home opener at Comerica Park, at freep.com/sports and commemorate the start of the 2013 baseball season with this 'On the prowl' Tigers' reprint, available now at the Free Press bookstore!

More Details: Meet Phil Coke

Early days: Drafted by the Yankees in 26th round in 2002 draft, made his major league debut Sept. 1, 2008.

Did you know? Coke, has six regular-season saves in his career, all but two with the Tigers, and all three of his postseason saves are with Detroit.

Experience not required

It’s not true that the Tigers must have an experienced closer. The closers for last year’s three National League division champions had a total of five career saves before last season:

Washington

With closer Drew Storen sidelined by elbow surgery, setup man Tyler Clippard (one career save) stepped in as closer. He recorded 32 saves.

Cincinnati

Closer Ryan Madson was lost for the season in spring training with a torn ligament in his elbow. In late May, young flamethrower Aroldis Chapman (one career save) took over as closer. From late June through early September, he converted 27 straight save opportunities. He finished the season with 38 saves.

San Francisco

With closer Brian Wilson lost for the season with elbow surgery, the Giants got 21 saves by midseason from Santiago Casilla, a veteran setup man. Down the stretch Sergio Romo, who had three career saves, became the closer. He went 9-for-9 in save chances to finish the regular season. In his three saves against the Tigers in the World Series, he didn’t allow a runner.